Polish MPs to question EU’s Tusk over pyramid scheme

The Amber Gold pyramid scheme saw thousands of Poles cheated out of their savings from 2009 to 2012, at a time when Tusk was Poland’s prime minister.

Amber Gold had promised customers high returns on investments in gold, but the firm folded in August 2012.

According to media reports, some 19,000 customers were swindled out of a combined PLN 851 million (EUR 200 million) at the time.

The special Polish parliamentary commission plans to question Tusk as a witness on November 5 at 10 am, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported on Tuesday, citing what it said was an official schedule posted on the website of the lower house of Poland’s parliament.

Tusk was originally expected to be questioned on October 2, but the commission’s head, Małgorzata Wassermann, rescheduled the hearing to November 5, the IAR news agency said.

Tusk initially opposed the new date, but at the beginning of this month, while in the southern Polish city of Kraków, he declared he would show up to testify on November 5 if his “calendar permits,” the news agency reported.

Tusk is expected to be the commission’s last witness in its inquiry into the investment scam, following hearings of other former government officials as well as Amber Gold employees, law enforcers and tax and financial supervision officials.

After questioning Tusk, the MPs plan to submit a final report on their more than two years of work.

Tusk was the prime minister of Poland from 2007 until 2014, when he resigned to become president of the European Council, a key European Union leadership position.

(gs/pk)

Source: IAR